After devoting his career to such horror films as Scream, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Last House on the Left, director Wes Craven makes a dramatic change of pace with this inspiring drama about a teacher who helps change the lives of her students. Roberta Guaspari-Tzavaras (Meryl Streep) teaches at an elementary school in Harlem, where discipline is a higher priority than the lively arts. But Roberta believes that studying music will give the children a sense of purpose invaluable in later life. Despite indifference from the school administration and budget cuts that force her to seek outside funding (and even threaten her job), Roberta struggles to teach the violin to her students, instilling a love of classical music in kids who might otherwise never have heard Bach or Mozart, and leading to a student recital at Carnegie Hall. Angela Bassett, Cloris Leachman, and Aidan Quinn highlight the supporting cast, and virtuoso violinists Isaac Stern, Itzhak Perlman, and Mark O'Connor appear as themselves. The Music of the Heart is based on a true story; the real Roberta Guaspari-Tzavaras and her students can be seen in the documentary Small Wonders. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Wes Craven has brought audiences some wonderfully creepy slasher films throughout the years, including the Nightmare on Elm Street series and the Scream series. Who would have guessed this same man could pull off a sentimental, true-life story of a woman who magically transforms a non-existent music program into one that performs at Carnegie Hall? Without all the trappings of a traditional, sappy Hollywood film, Craven shows us real people fighting for a real, everyday cause: education. Meryl Streep has engaged audiences in her roles in such classic films such as Silkwood and Manhattan, and in this one, she shines just as she always has. Streep brings the perfect blend of sophistication and realness to the role of Roberta. Music may be too sappy for hardcore Wes Craven fans; however, this is a good solid film with a great message. ~ Laura Abraham, All Movie Guide
Josh Pais - Dennis; Jay O. Sanders - Dan; Charlie Hofheimer - Nick (17); Kieran Culkin - Lexi (15); Michael Angarano - Nick (7); Henry Dinhofer - Lexi (5); Isaac Stern - himself; Itzhak Perlman - himself; Arnold Steinhardt - himself; Mark O'Connor - Himself; Michael Tree - himself; Charles Veal Jr. - himself; Karen Briggs - herself; Sandra Park - herself; Diane Monroe - herself; Jonathan Feldman - himself; Jane Leeves
Credit
Beth Kuhn - Art Director, Susan Lyall - Costume Designer, Wes Craven - Director, Patrick Lussier - Editor, Sandy Gallin - Executive Producer, Bob Weinstein - Executive Producer, Harvey Weinstein - Executive Producer, Mason K. Daring - Composer (Music Score), Diane Warren - Songwriter, Bruce Miller - Production Designer, Peter Deming - Cinematographer, Stuart M. Besser - Producer, Marianne Maddalena - Producer, Susan Kaplan - Producer, Walter Scheuer - Producer, Allan Miller - Producer, Michael Barosky - Sound/Sound Designer, Todd Toon - Sound/Sound Designer, Pamela Gray - Screenwriter, George De Titta, Jr. - Set Decorator
Tomas Torres (Producer), Robert Read (Engineer), Humberto Gatica (Engineer), Emilio Estefan, Jr. (Producer), Stephen George (Engineer), Jon Secada (Arranger), Troy Hightower (Mixing), Guy Roche (Arranger), John Richards (Mixing), Rick Wake (Producer), Marcelo Añez (Engineer), Organized Noize (Mixing), Chad Wolfinabarger (Assistant Engineer), Tony Maserati (Mixing), David Foster (Arranger), Joel Numa (Engineer), Pablo Flores (Remixing), Aaliyah (Performer), Todd Robbins (Engineer), Gloria Estefan (Performer), Tre-O (Performer), Macy Gray (Performer), George Noriega (Arranger), Joshua Bell (Performer), Rodolfo Castillo (Engineer), Karen Briggs (Performer), William Ross (String Arrangements), Peter Moshay (Engineer), Christine Tramontano (Assistant Engineer), Mark Heimermann (Producer), Richie Perez (Assistant Engineer), Khris Kellow (Producer), Guy Roche (Producer), Jordan d'Alessio (Assistant Engineer), Hooshik (Art Direction), Gustavo Celis (Engineer), Tony Mardini (Assistant Engineer), Bob Biles (Engineer), Mason Daring (Producer), Leszek Wrojcik (Engineer), Carlos Laurenz (Engineer), Chris Fogel (Engineer), Rodolfo Castillo (Producer), Diane Monroe (Performer), Dave Poler (Assistant Engineer), Tomas Torres (Arranger), Jonathan Feldman (Performer), Chris Porter (Engineer), Julio Iglesias, Jr. (Producer), Organized Noize (Producer), Amado Jaen (Producer), Khris Kellow (Arranger), Sebastián Krys (Mixing), David Ashton (Assistant Engineer), C-Note (Performer), Randall Barlow (Producer), Rick Wake (Arranger), C.J. DeVillar (Assistant Engineer), Bruce Weeden (Mixing), Menudo (Performer), Gizelle D'Cole (Performer), Javier Garza (Mixing), Dushyant Bhakta (Assistant Engineer), Jennifer Lopez (Performer), Mick Guzauski (Mixing), Rudy Pérez (Arranger), David Campbell (String Arrangements), George Noriega (Producer), Mark O'Connor (Performer), David Nash (Assistant Engineer), Dean Maher (Assistant Engineer), David Campbell (Conductor), Tom Bender (Assistant Engineer), Felipe Elgueta (Engineer), David Foster (Producer), Pablo Flores (Producer), Bernasky Wall (Engineer), Randall Barlow (Arranger), Alfred Figueroa (Assistant Engineer), Tom Bender (Mixing), *NSYNC (Performer), Ed Williams (Assistant Engineer), Josh Butler (Mixing), Freddy Piñero, Jr. (Engineer), Mario Lucy (Engineer), Cesar Sogbe (Mixing), Bruce Weeden (Engineer), Dan Hetzel (Mixing), Phil Temple (Producer), Sandra Park (Performer), Jim Porto (Assistant Engineer), Ali Boudris (Engineer), Rudy Pérez (Producer), Itzhak Perlman (Performer), Wes Craven (Liner Notes), Jaci Velasquez (Performer), Femio Hernández (Mixing)
This is the true story of Roberta Guaspari (Meryl Streep). By bringing the violin into the lives of children in the New York City public school system, she hopes to brighten their difficult lives.
Described in the opening credits as being 'inspired by a documentary,' the film opens with Roberta having been deserted by her husband and feeling devastated, almost suicidal. Encouraged by her mother, she attempts to rebuild her life and a friend recommends her to the head teacher of a school in the tough New York area of East Harlem. Despite a degree in music education, she has little experience in actual music teaching, but she's taken on as a substitute violin teacher. With a combination of toughness and determination, she inspires a group of kids, and their initially skeptical parents. The program slowly develops and attracts publicity.
Ten years later, the string program is still running successfully, but suddenly the school budget is cut and Roberta is out of a job. Determined to fight the cuts, she enlists the support of former pupils, parents and teachers and plans a grand fund-raising concert 'Fiddlefest', to raise money so that the program can continue. But with a few weeks to go and all participants furiously rehearsing, they lose the venue. Fortunately, the husband of a publicist friend is a violinist in a string quartet, and he enlists the support of other well-known musicians, including Isaac Stern and Itzhak Perlman. They arrange for the concert to be mounted at Carnegie Hall. Other famous musicians join in the performance, which is a resounding success.
The film's theme song, "Music Of My Heart", scored songwriter Diane Warren a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and a Grammy Award nomination for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.[1]
Trivia
Streep learned to play a Bach violin concerto for this film.[2]
Madonna was originally signed to play the role of Roberta Guaspari Demetras, but left the project before filming began, citing "creative differences" with Wes Craven. She had already studied for many months to play the violin.[3] The children of Opus 118 - Harlem School of Music, led by Roberta Guaspari, performed with Madonna twice in 1998: "Frozen" at the Annual Rain Forest Benefit at Carnegie Hall, New York and at the 1998 VH1 Fashion Awards performing "The Power of Good-Bye".[4]
Wes Craven said that he would only direct Scream 3, if he could direct this movie.[5]
This is the second collaboration between Craven and Angela Bassett, she previously appared on the cult comedy horror film Vampire In Brooklyn.
Critical reception
The film got mixed reviews but with a positive trend. Most critics applauded Meryl Streep's portrayal of Roberta Guaspari. The film had a 68% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes.[6] Critic Eleanor Ringel Gillespie of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution concluded that "There are more challenging movies around. More original ones, too. But "Music of the Heart" gets the job done, efficiently and entertainingly."[7]Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four and wrote that "Meryl Streep is known for her mastery of accents; she may be the most versatile speaker in the movies. Here you might think she has no accent, unless you've heard her real speaking voice; then you realize that Guaspari's speaking style is no less a particular achievement than Streep's other accents. This is not Streep's voice, but someone else's - with a certain flat quality, as if later education and refinement came after a somewhat unsophisticated childhood."[8] Steve Rosen said that "The key to Meryl Streep's fine performance is that she makes Guaspari unheroically ordinary. Ultimately that makes her even more extraordinary." [9]
